Jon Favreau, best known at that time as the director of “Elf,” was brought in to direct an “Iron Man” movie. According to Maisel, he was the key figure in getting Marvel's board to sign off on casting Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role.
Former Marvel Studios president David Maisel revealed he had to fight for Robert Downey Jr's casting as Iron Man due to fears over the star's history of drug abuse. From 1996 to 2001, the actor was arrested numerous times for drug-related crimes.
Because of Downey Jr.'s rocky past, Marvel producers were extremely reluctant to cast him as Iron Man, hence the endless number of stars, such as Tom Cruise, who got offered the role. Cruise turned the offer down because it didn't feel right to him.
Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark in the Iron Man and Avengers films is iconic, but according to Marvel boss Kevin Feige, Downey was not the first choice to play the billionaire superhero: Clive Owen was.
Robert Downey Jr. Exposes Marvel’s SICKENING Off-Camera Secrets
Who was chosen to be Iron Man?
Since 2008 and the release of Iron Man, rumors of Tom Cruise playing the titular role have been spread, with the reason behind Robert Downey Jr. taking the part instead finally being revealed 15 years later.
The casting choices for Iron Man and other characters could have drastically changed the MCU. Tom Cruise, Timothy Olyphant, Hugh Jackman, and Nicolas Cage were considered for the role, and Rachel McAdams was offered the role of Pepper Potts.
In 2007, Downey was cast as the title character in the film Iron Man, with director Jon Favreau explaining the choice by stating: "Downey wasn't the most obvious choice, but he understood what makes the character tick. He found a lot of his own life experience in 'Tony Stark'."
Why did Robert Downey Jr get chosen to be Iron Man?
In the interview, Favreau and Feige agreed that Downey was the right choice and that the MCU would be changed entirely without him. "He was the puzzle piece that made it all work," Favreau shared. "I remember sitting down with the guy, and I was like, 'He's got that spark in him in his eye and he's ready.
“I think he had come through on like maybe Fantastic Four, so everybody sort of knew who he was,” Favreau recalled. He said he ended up bringing Downey in after seeing “that spark in him”. “Once it was him, that's when my life got a lot easier because he undersood the voice of the character,” he said.
Josh was somebody who came up," Gunn said. "I'm a big fan of his work, and he was somebody who came up who really had the weight that you need for somebody like Thanos." But Brolin wasn't the only contender. "We talked about Pauly Shore for a long time.
Tom Hiddleston was one of the many young men who auditioned to play Thor, but Marvel felt he was a better fit for Loki. Those who also tested included Charlie Hunnam, Alexander Skarsgard, Joel Kinnaman, Kevin McKidd, and even WWE star Triple-H.
When Iron Man was in early development in the 1990s, many at Marvel wanted Tom Cruise to play the role, and it was not the most out-of-left-field casting idea for the character who would become the heart of the Avengers. But believe it or not, Nicolas Cage was also once part of the Tony Stark conversation.
Favreau has repeatedly confirmed how much pushback he got from Marvel Studios about the idea of casting Downey due to his very public history. The reservations that Marvel Studios had about making Robert Downey Jr. the lead in Iron Man eventually subsided, in large part because of Favreau.
Tom Cruise was once considered for the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man; however, Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige says the actor's asking fee was too high. Approximately ten years prior to the release of 2008's Iron Man, Cruise expressed interest in playing Iron Man in a Marvel project.
Shaun Toub as Ho Yinsen: Stark's fellow captive, who grafts an electromagnet to Stark's chest "to keep the shrapnel shell shards that wounded him from reaching his heart and killing him" and helps Stark build the first Iron Man suit.
Robert Downey Jr and Tom Cruise are two of the biggest actors in Hollywood. The two have given multiple blockbusters in their respective acting careers. Even though the two have worked together in one film, Tropic Thunder, over the years, they share a great bond of friendship.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe nearly took a very different route with their Black Widow character. Before Scarlett Johansson suited up as the beloved Avenger, Emily Blunt was going to play the role. Paramount Pictures had the actress as their first choice to play Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2.
A visit from Downey and his iconic character would be an exciting way to bring Ironheart into the franchise. However, the actor has told multiple interviewers that he's done with the MCU and has moved on to new projects on and off-screen.
On this day, the final encounter between Earth's defenders, The Avengers, and the army of Thanos, took place with industrialist Tony Stark sacrificing himself to undo the damage caused by the aforementioned snap. Stark was 53 at the time of his sacrifice.
Hiddleston wasn't the only English actor who tried to become MCU's God of Mischief, meanwhile, as Charlie Cox also auditioned for the part. He eventually got to join the Marvel universe when he was cast to play Matt Murdock in the critically-acclaimed Netflix series, Daredevil.
Johnny Depp and Steve Buscemi were reportedly under consideration for the lead. David Duchovny and Jeff Goldblum auditioned for the role. Edward Norton, who went on to play Bruce in The Incredible Hulk, expressed interest in the role but turned it down as he was disappointed with the script.
